Injured Transit Worker Awarded $2.5M in 2012 Chicago Train Crash

A jury has ruled the city of Chicago must pay nearly $2.5 million to a Chicago Transit Authority train operator who was injured after a police car chasing a bicyclist ran into a Brown Line train.

CTA worker Jeffery Bryant’s attorneys tell the Chicago Tribune a Cook County jury ruled last week in favor of their client, who suffered a serious spinal injury after the August 2012 crash in the Albany Park neighborhood.

The suit hinged on an interpretation of a Chicago Police Department policy requiring officers to weigh the need to pursue a suspect against the danger created by a motor vehicle chase.

The city argued the rule only applies to cases in which a police car pursues another vehicle. Bryant’s attorneys argued the order should govern all police cars regardless of the suspect’s mode of transportation.